Penava's 11th double-double leads Herd past Panthers

AP

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Adjin Penava had his 11th double-double of the season with 25 points and 12 rebounds and Jon Elmore added 22 points as Marshall beat Florida International 76-66 on Thursday night.

FIU led just once all game, as Brian Beard Jr. opened scoring with a layup. Penava then scored six points — starting with a 3-point play on a dunk — in the midst of a 9-0 run as the Thundering Herd (16-8, 7-4 Conference USA) took the lead for good. After Marshall pushed its lead to 11, the Panthers (11-14, 5-7) closed the half on a 12-4 run to pull within 33-30.

After the break, the Thundering Herd steadily built up a lead, peaking at a 14-point advantage on back-to-back dunks by Penava with three minutes left in the game.

Marshall controlled the glass and took advantage of poor shooting from FIU, outrebounding the Panthers 49-37 and holding them to 37-percent shooting.